[Psalms] Why We Need to SingSample

Sing to the Lord

As you travel around the globe, you will see many different things in every culture and in every place, but there will always be music and singing. Do you know that we need to sing? Singing is not just for the good singers, but for everybody. Our hearts need to sing. Especially in the summertime, people love to go to concerts to experience singing their favorite songs out loud together with a venue full of strangers.

There is a higher aspect of singing though—there is someone we sing to. 

In today’s verse, we hear five times the psalmist saying the word “sing.” Sing praise to God. All throughout the Old Testament, you see praise after praise. It is important that we do not just think, or listen, but that we also sing to the Lord. We sing out praise to Him. It makes a difference in our lives.

However, the praise, worship, and singing of the church from previous decades have often been a battlefield. Have you ever heard the phrase “worship wars?” Have you ever heard of churches splitting over the music? Charles Spurgeon, in the 1800s, called the music department in his church the “war” department because everybody had a preference—different thinking about how they should praise.

So that you can understand where we are as a Church now, I will give you a history review over the next two days. We go all the way back to the Old Testament where there are heaps of songs. This includes today’s verse in the book of Psalms—the songbook of the Old Testament. About 7% of the Old Testament are all the songs which were recorded in Psalms.

In Genesis chapter 4 we learn that Jubal was the father of those who played the lyre and pipe. In Exodus 15, Moses and the people of God sing about the Red Sea going over the Egyptians. In Nehemiah, there are choirs walking on the wall that sing out the praises of God to rebuild the city of Jerusalem. In the Old Testament, Moses and David were songwriters—which conveys the intimate relationship they both had with God. All throughout the Old Testament, there is a lot of singing, declaring the praises of the Lord, which brings us back to today’s verse: Sing to the Lord.

God already knows what is in your heart, but He still loves to hear your praise.